With a growing number of cars in the world countries like Canada or the United States and European countries, also experience a growing number of car accidents. Auto insurance became one of the main things that protects the driver from financial losses. Auto insurance is a legal contract between driver and insurance company, that not only provides ongoing protection to the driver, but also can be a constant reminder of the possible dangers on the road. While the driver pays the premium to the company, the company provides coverage in case of an accident. There are three types of coverage available in any insurance: property, liability and medical coverage. Property coverage pays for damage done to your car and in some cases repays the costs in case of theft. Liability coverage pays for your legal responsibility to others for causing bodily injury or property damage during an accident. It is calculated according to the fault of the driver and it is important to remember that in case of an accident the fault can be distributed among two or move drivers involved. Medical coverage pays for the cost of treating injuries after the accident, the process of rehabilitation and in some cases also lost wages and even funeral expenses, for this type of coverage it is important to provide all the checks and bill for medical expenses. As for auto insurance in Canada several Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec) provide a public auto insurance system, while the rest of the provinces provide private insurance. The basic auto insurance is mandatory throughout Canada, still the government of each province defines which benefits are included as minimum required auto insurance coverage and which benefits are options available for those seeking additional coverage. The coverage itself is also different from province to province, for example accident benefits coverage is not mandatory in Newfoundland and Labrador.
While on the one side car related laws and regulations are constantly being updated to handle the growing number of accidents, alternative solutions for handling the situation are also being developed and used. In 1994 a study conducted by Jeremy Jackson and Roger Blackman showed that increasing the costs of one accident leads to reduction of the number of accidents. A driver must understand that and accident could not only lead to injuries or casualties, but will also lead to compensations even after the smallest accidents. A modern driver starts to pay for the possible accidents even before he gets behind the wheel, with the means of Compulsory Insurance. Compulsory Insurance is one of the insurance mechanisms that drivers must file proof of insurance and make a payment before they receive their vehicle registration. Compulsory insurance is used for two scenarios. First in case of an accident involving two or more vehicles it covers the damages done to vehicles, irrespective of who’s in responsible for the accident. It also covers the most common damages that can occur from problems like theft, fire or vandalism.
